ENERGY DRINKS ON CARDIOVASCULAR SYSTEM

Abstract

Objectives: The objective of this study was to determine the short term effectsof energy drinks on the cardiovascular system and physical performance of healthy adult malemedical students. Study Design: Experimental study. Place and Duration of Study: This studywas conducted at the Physiology departments of CMH Multan Institute of Medical Sciences,Multan and Continental Medical College, Lahore from February 2017 to April 2017. Subjectsand Methods: Sixty eight healthy, adult, male medical students participated in this study. Eachday, heart rates and blood pressures of 3 to 4 students were measured and then the testsof physical performance (hand grip test and 300 meter run test) were performed (“pre-test”measurements). After that, each student drank 250 mL of a standard energy drink and thenrested for about 30 minutes, after which post-test measurements were recorded in the sameway. Changes in various parameters, before and after the consumption of energy drink werecompared using the student’s t-test. Results: The cardiac parameters (heart rate & bloodpressure) of the students increased significantly after using the energy drink (p-value < 0.05).Mean±SD hand grip of the students increased from 44.97±3.96 Kg to 45.14±3.99 Kg afterconsuming the energy drink, but this increase was not significant (p-value = 0.667). Similarly,the mean±SD time of “300 meter run test” decreased from 68.28±3.40 seconds to 67.93±4.47seconds after the consumption of the energy drink, but this was also non-significant (p-value= 0.448). Conclusion: We observed significant increase in heart rate and blood pressure ofthe study subjects, while no significant enhancement was seen in the physical performance ofhealthy adult male medical students, 30 minutes after consuming the energy drinks.